Preventing physical and emotional violence by teachers in public schools in Pakistan : study protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial of the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers (ICC-T)

Abstract

Background: Violence can have serious short- and long-term impacts on children and young people`s health, development and well-being. On a societal level, it represents a considerable obstacle to economic growth and advancement by lowering human and social capital. Since many children worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries, experience violence by teachers at school, there is an urgent need for efficacious and scalable interventions to prevent violence by teachers and improve teacher-student interactions. To this end, the present study examines the effectiveness of the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers (ICC-T) to reduce physical and emotional violence by teachers. Methods: The study adopts a cluster-randomized controlled trial design with schools (clusters) as level of randomization and three data assessment points: baseline assessment prior to the intervention, the first follow-up assessment 6 months after the intervention and the second follow-up assessment 18 months after the intervention. Across four different sites in Pakistan, a total number of 48 public single-gender high schools (24 girls’ and 24 boys’ schools) are randomly selected. After baseline assessment, half of the schools are randomly allocated to the intervention group, in which teachers at selected schools receive ICC-T, and the other half to the control group, in which teachers receive no intervention. At each school, 30 students in the sixth year of school and all teachers (expected average number: 15) are recruited. Thus, the final sample comprises at least 1300 students and 720 teachers. Data are collected through structured interviews, standardized cognitive tests and school records. Primary outcome measures are student- and teacher-reported physical and emotional violence by teachers in the past week. Secondary outcome measures include teachers’ attitudes towards violence and children’s mental health problems, quality of life and cognitive functioning. Other outcomes are students’ academic performance and peer violence. Data will be analyzed using multilevel analyses. Discussion: This study aims to provide initial evidence of the effects of ICC-T on children’s exposure to violence at schools, their well-being and functioning in the context of Pakistan. Trial registration: The clinical trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov, 2024) under the identifier NCT06001554 (Preventing Physical and Emotional Violence by Teachers in Public Schools in Pakistan (ICC-T_Pak), 2023) on August 21st, 2023.